This is Ford, Sussex, the site of one of the proposed new towns. It lies at the junction between the railway lines from Brighton to Portsmouth and from Horsham to Littlehampton; the view is looking roughly to the north-east. The dotted red line is the missing link which would allow trains to go from Brighton to Horsham without going into Littlehampton and reversing, which would be useful when the main London to Brighton line is closed for engineering works. To the left is the River Arun, which is tidal at this point.
The site obviously well provided with rail connections and it is also close to the A27 coast road. But it is low-lying and on a flood plain. However, as long as the liability to flooding is taken into account in the design, it could be an exciting new development, perhaps with canals and other water areas both ornamental, recreational and with moorings for boats. But it will not work if it is filled up with affordable houses built down to cost limits - that will quickly degrade into a slum.
I wrote to my MP on two entirely separate issues recently. The first was to do with the replacement for the Inter City 125 train, which at £2.6 million per vehicle, is twice as expensive as it ought to be. The second concerned the benefits of a switch from business rate and Council Tax to a tax based on site values. In both cases, the replies were full of spurious, unsubstantiated assertions and completely flawed arguments. This is typical. You will not get an iota of sense from the government on any area of public policy at all - finance, economics, trade and employment, agriculture, housing, health, transport, energy. All junk. If you write to your MP you will invariably receive answers that are an insult to your intelligence, no matter what subject you are writing about. Of course they cannot understand statistics. They are innumerate. Whitehall is staffed with idiots with a high IQ. Look at their IT projects. And mind your purse, they will have that too.
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